Tongue twisters, those mystifying turns of phrase with repeated phonemes, alliteration or rhyme which present difficulty in pronunciation, are a universal phenomenon. They are a part of our experience growing up as English speakers and they exist in similar forms for children in other parts of the world. Who doesn’t want to show off and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘French’
Time for Tricky Tongue Twisters
Thursday, July 15th, 2010Languages at the FIFA World Cup
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010As I write this, the second week of the 2010 World Cup is in full swing in South Africa. The euphoria generated by the event can be felt throughout the entire world. Most significant are the numerous preparations and needs that arise in the host country, which include matters of language and communication, not only [...]
Language Map of Europe
Friday, October 23rd, 2009The map of Europe posted above is an excellent example of why localization is so important. Translators and companies who are looking for translations should not use this as a hard-and-fast, exact representation of where the dividing lines are drawn for the languages of Europe. Instead, take a moment to consider what it is really [...]
Italian, the Successor of Latin
Friday, March 27th, 2009In the Roman Empire, spoken language (vulgar Latin) differed from written language (literary Latin). Romance languages derive from vulgar Latin, the spoken variety. The language that today we know as Italian is the one that has remained closest to the original Latin base, while other Romance languages have had external influences: French has been affected [...]
Learning Languages Is Respecting Others
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009Economic globalization implies a tendency towards homogeneity and uniformity. In this sense, globalization goes hand in hand with the English language. Once, the French language had its golden era with territorial conquest and an aura of enlightenment, diplomacy and law. Today, across the world, 264.1 million people speak/study French, according to the Ministry of Foreign [...]
Multilingual Translation Sites
Friday, December 19th, 2008Trusted Translations has launched its multilingual translation sites in Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Chinese and Japanese. These are the homes of the main sites in those languages, as well as a short description of each site in its language. Portuguese Site: Tradução Líder em Traduções de Português: Trusted Translations, Inc. Traduções de português de [...]
Language Preservation Policies
Friday, December 19th, 2008Public policies aiming to preserve a national language are most commonly associated with small nations, whether they be small nation-states (i.e., Iceland, Ireland, and Estonia) or minority nations within a larger nation-state (i.e., Quebecois French, Basque, Catalan, and countless indigenous languages). Nevertheless, now many larger countries are taking action to preserve their majority languages. The [...]
